Moscow supports Brahimi’s “shuttle diplomacy” – Lavrov

Brahimi earlier renewed his call for a “speedy end” to the bloodshed and destruction in the Middle Eastern country

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MOSCOW, February 2 (Itar-Tass) – Russia supports the efforts of the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States for the Syrian Crisis, Lakhdar Brahimi, to resolve the Syrian crisis as soon as possible, the Russian Foreign Ministry said after a meeting between its head Sergei Lavrov and the U.N. envoy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, February 2.

Lavrov and Brahimi discussed “the situation in Syria and prospects for a political and diplomatic settlement in that country,” the ministry said.

The Russian minister expressed support for the special representative’s efforts, including as part of his “shuttle diplomacy” aimed at finding mutually acceptable solutions to the Syrian crisis.

Brahimi earlier renewed his call for a “speedy end” to the bloodshed and destruction in the Middle Eastern country, where tens of thousands of people have died in almost two years of violence.

“We are all very, very deeply aware of the immense suffering of the Syrian people which has gone for far too long and we all stressed the need for a speedy end to the bloodshed, to the destruction, and all forms of violence in Syria,” Brahimi said in Geneva.

“In our view, there is no military solution for this conflict,” Brahimi said, adding that both Bogdanov and Burns had agreed during their talks on the necessity to reach a political solution based on the so-called Geneva communique of June 30, 2012, which, among other items, calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body made up by members of the present Government and the opposition and other groups, as part of agreed principles and guidelines for a Syrian-led political transition.

“As you know a key element of that communique is the governing body which should exercise full executive powers during its existence, and we agree that full executive powers means all the powers of the State,” Brahimi said.

“There is an absolute necessity for people to continue to work for a peaceful solution,” he said, adding that “it is the wider international community, but especially the members of the Security Council that can really create the opening that is necessary to start effectively solving the problem.”

Brahimi said he would continue to engage with all Syrian parties, as well as other stakeholders in the region and internationally.

The Joint Special Representative is scheduled to brief the Security Council later this month on his consultations with the Syrian Government and representatives of the opposition. The 15-member body has so far been unable to reach agreement on a course of action in relation to the conflict in Syria.